Seeking help! extracting root canal tooth
 

Hi， Bryanna，
I think my case is very complicated!
I have tons of root canalled teeth，both front and back. I got to know root canal is very bad in the year 2012,since then I have had 4 extracted due to infection. I didn't follow my dentists advice to re do the root canal. But now I was wondering is it the correct to pull them out because I did a lot of research and get to know almost 90% extraction end up with cavitation,which is worse than root canal！even the ligament is removed. I'm planning to get another root canal molar extracted this year。But now very confused. I have another question, i find every time I have a single tooth removed, the adjacent tooth is always also a root canal one, I was wondering is it a factor to prevent the bone healing and since cause cavitation later?

Hi vichen,

If you have many root canaled teeth, then yes, your dental situation is complicated.

Regarding the issue with possible cavitation after an extraction. It is not accurate to say that 90% of people who have teeth extracted end up with cavitations simply because cavitations are often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed the majority of the time by conventional dentists. Why? Because the majority of cavitations occur from root canaled teeth as the bacteria destroys the jaw bone and dentists expect that to occur. Cavitations also occur after wisdom teeth removal where the teeth were either infected or they were impacted in unhealthy bone.

It is also not accurate to say that a cavitation is worse than a root canaled tooth simply because all root canaled teeth cause negative changes in the jaw bone and are a systemic health risk due to the proliferation of the infectious bacteria and toxins that seep from the tooth into the blood. A cavitation can actually be avoided if an infected tooth is extracted before the bacteria proliferates. It is the microscopic bacteria that remains in the jaw bone from severely infected teeth and/or root canaled teeth that contribute to cavitations.

In some cases, certain people are more prone to developing a cavitation than others. These people often have a history of uncontrolled periodontal disease, rampant tooth decay and/or many root canaled teeth. All of which cause multiple infectious bacterias to develop and proliferate throughout their mouth.

It is very possible and highly likely for an adjacent tooth to become infected from a neighboring tooth that is infected and/or root canaled. The bacteria from the infected tooth is shared via the blood to the adjacent teeth. This is why it is not ideal or healthy to hang on to infected teeth.

I'm very sorry that you are in such a difficult dental situation. Perhaps you should think about what is most important to you from a health perspective. Ask your dentist to give you a comprehensive examination and full mouth series of xrays to evaluate the health of your teeth, gums, etc. You may not like what he finds but at some point you need to take some action in order to have some peace of mind about your dental health.

Bryanna



Be careful where you are getting your information from as many "blogs" that are basically lay people talking about their personal experience truly have little to no dental knowledge. Over my lengthy career in dentistry, I can honestly confirm that most people will have a misconstrued version of what took place during their dental treatment. It is not that they are lying or trying to misrepresent what occurred, but the reality is that most people just have no clue what takes place when they are in the dental chair.

Hi Bryanna,

Thanks for your reply. I actually contacted many dentists including oral surgeon for pulling out all my root canal teeth. Unfortunately most of them disagree the idea of pulling out them,even the holistic dentist I talked with. And most of them highly recommend implant which i don't think is a healthy way either.

Now my major concern is I got two molars extracted 2 years ago, and both of them neighbering with a root canalled tooth,does it mean the infection from those root canalled teeth can penetrate the bone and prevent the extracted sites from proper healing and hence cause cavitation ?

So do you mean if I want to pull off root canal teeth, I better have them removed at one time but not one by one? Thanks!

Hi Bryanna,

I read through your reply again, still confused and can't decide want to do? From one point, I really want to pull out all my root canal teeth and give myself a peaceful mind. Carrying all those root canal like carrying a bomb and make me sick all these years. On the other hands, I am one of those people as you mentioned who have many many root canal in mouth, I don't want to pull up all teeth and have cavitation all over my jaw bone. So should I do? If you were me, do you prefer extraction? My root canal has been there for 10 years, and has infection I think at least for 4 years.

To be honest, 2 years ago, when i had those two infectious root canal molars removed, I was so relieved and happy. But now thinking of they both are long history infectious root canalled teeth and they both neibouring with other root canalled teeth which might carry on new bacteria from, I feel so sad and depressed, it feels after such a long time recovering, what I get back is not Heath but two cavitations instead! Not mention the two newly extracted teeth this year!

Vichen,

It is not wise to contact dentists and ask them to pull out your teeth. You need to be clinically evaluated with radio graphs of all of your teeth. This is not something that can be done without a dentist physically seeing you.

Anytime a tooth is root canaled, the bacteria from that chronic infection stemming from the non vital tooth travels through the blood. Therefore, the adjacent teeth to the root canaled tooth can become infected from that bacteria. Extracting a tooth here and there as they become severely infected, while keeping other root canaled teeth will not stop the proliferation of bacteria as it is still residing inside of the teeth that are root canaled.

An extraction site next to a root canaled tooth can become infected from the adjacent root canaled tooth. That infection can develop into a osteonecrosis or osteomyelitis (cavitation) in the bone. Again, the infectious bacteria associated with non vital root canaled teeth is not limited to just that tooth or the surrounding area.

Bryanna

Vichen,

I suggest that you have a complete comprehensive examination and full mouth series of xrays to determine which teeth are healthy and which are not. Then you can discuss treatment options with your dentist.

Regarding the root canaled tooth done 10 yrs ago.... just to clarify, that tooth did not become infected 4 years ago. That tooth has been infected for the entire 10 years or longer. Symptoms of the infection may not have been obvious to you but that does not mean the tooth was healthy after it had the root canal. It just means it was silent until the infection became severe.

Bryanna

Vichen,

You feel defeated because it is not wise to have a tooth extracted here and there when you have other teeth are infected too. You would be better off both dentally and systemically if you knew what the health of all of your teeth were and had a plan of action.

Bryanna

Thanks, Bryanna,

I did physically see the doctors, some oral surgeons just don't believe cavitation and root canal related statement while others said my front teeth root canal is not that bad to need to be pulled out.

Anyway, I have been pregnant and breastfeeding for all past two years, so couldn't pull out the infection ones.

My question now is based on what I described, do your think other than my remain root canalled teeth, all other that has been extracted in the past are definitely developed into a cavitation and I need to take care of that asap as well? Sorry I keep asking you this because in my city there's really no understanding oral surgeon can help me in this side. Do you know any good dentist in Vancouver? Thanks!

vichen,

Every dental school in the world educates their students on the biological, pathological and histological changes that occur in the jaw bone as a result of non vital teeth, root canaled teeth, infected teeth, and periodontal disease, etc. So to be clear there is no reasonable or rational scientific doubt about the occurrence of those things. The questions lie with the dentists apprehension to communicate openly to a patient about this topic resulting in the patient having no choice but to concede to dental treatment that they have been misinformed, ill informed or not informed about.

Another thing that occurs between a dentist and a patient that most people would not be aware of unless they have worked in the dental field has to do with the variety of dental problems that a person presents themselves with. Meaning when a person has unresolved problems due to various reasons and/or areas of the mouth that have been patched up rather than properly restored, dentists are cautious about how they proceed with that patient because they do not want to inadvertently be blamed for any complications that may arise from something that the previous dentist(s) did or didn't do. Dentistry is very complicated in that there is no ideal procedure to repair or restore a tooth once it has broken down. So there are so many little details that are often associated with each and every procedure and in each individual case. What is also taken into consideration is the expectations and limitations of the patient and having to meet those successfully. Meaning patient health, finances, priorities... etc.

As I stated previously, there is no way for me to tell you if some or all of your previously extracted teeth have or will develop cavitations in the jaw bone. There are several factors that go into the development of a jaw bone cavitation and I have no way to know the degree or proliferation of infection that each tooth had or how competent the dentist was in his efforts to remove the diseased tooth, tissue and bone. Your overall health, lifestyle and diet also play key roles in the health and healing of your jaw bone.

I looked on the IAOMT website for a biological dentist and the only one listed was this one. I can not vouch for her as I have no personal knowledge or affiliation with her or her office.
http://www.calderondmd.com/about.html

Bryanna